#i was hunting for something specific but got sidetracked look at him he's so pretty pls understand me

[solacereigns]

pov: you're alex marquez's passenger princess

[akathecupcakes]

Fic: If I Ever Leave This World Alive

Fandom: The Avengers (AU) Summary: Despite what many scientists say, the multiverse is a sentient being; it has thoughts, feelings… and a sense of humor. One of its favorite jokes is to gather some or all the versions of one person in one place and watch them try to figure things out. This, for reasons unknown to even them, is hilarious. Unfortunately, the multiverse is not infallible; it makes mistakes, as many sentient beings do, and sometimes… the wrong person is gathered. Content Warnings: poor mental health, thoughts of suicide, original character Notes: There isn’t much to this fic. It may never be finished, just to warn you.

Two seconds after waking up, she realizes something is wrong. She sits up, looks around the room and narrows her eyes; it’s her room, but at the same time it wasn’t. The structure itself was the same, but the colors were wrong. Her nicknacks weren’t there; her full collection of Bendy and the Ink Machine figures that she lovingly hunted were gone, she had gone to so many stores to find them, ironically the Heavenly Toys Alice Angel was the hardest to find… she was getting sidetracked.

“JARVIS, are you here?” she asked as calmly as she could muster. If the silence after her request didn’t speak volumes, his reply did.

“Yes Ma’am…” She didn’t hear Jarvis sound uncertain very often. It was uncomfortable.

“JARVIS, do you know my name?”

“No Ma’am. But you are not setting off any alarms, meaning you are somehow supposed to be here.” She relaxed a little.

“Yes, but this is the wrong ‘here’…”

“Ma’am?”

“My name is Anita Stark; I think I’m in the wrong universe.” Hearing herself say this ridiculousness doesn’t wake her up in her actual bed in her actual room, so this is probably what’s happening. She hates that she knows this is a thing that can actually happen.

“I am sorry to hear that, Miss Stark,” JARVIS but not her JARVIS replies with a reasonable amount of skepticism for an AI. “Should I call someone?”

“Could you tell Mr. Stark that I’m here? I don’t want to startle him.”

“Of course, Miss. Anything else?”

“I’m going to go have a panic attack in the shower, could you keep people out for about an hour?”

“Will you require medical attention afterward?” The fact he was so nonchalant about things was oddly comforting.

“No, I don’t think so,” she replied. “But I’ll probably need some clothes. I’ll definitely need some coffee.”

“Of course, Miss Stark.”

***

Tony’s reaction to a strange person in his house that somehow didn’t off any alarms was a lot more normal than anyone expected.

“How did she get in here, there’s security! And… Avengers! There are Avengers everywhere!”

“The scans didn’t pick her up as an intruder, Sir,” JARVIS replied. “I took the liberty of doing a scan on her, and biologically, she belongs here.”

“What does that mean?” Steve asked. He’d sat there quietly while JARVIS told Tony about this “Anita Stark”, because it seemed that Tony was freaking out enough for the both of them, but now he needed something explained. He had a pretty good idea what was being said, but confirmation was always nice.

“Miss Stark’s DNA is similar enough to Sir that she didn’t register as an intruder.”

“When you say similar, is the difference the lack of Y chromosome or something more?” Tony looked over at Steve, his mouth hanging open a little. “What? I read.”

“To answer your question, Captain,” JARVIS continued. “Miss Stark is indeed lacking the Y chromosome, but also a few other markers… rather than being a female version of Sir, she appears to be a sibling. Specifically a twin sibling.”

“There’s a universe where I have a twin sister,” Tony said flatly. “Fantastic. Where is she now?”

“She, by her own admission, is having a panic attack in the shower and has asked to not be disturbed for an hour. I’ve ordered her some clothes; they should be arriving shortly.”

“Thank you, JARVIS.”

“Of course, Sir.” There was a moment where Tony looked like he was going to move on to something else, but then just stood where he was, blinking.

“Wait… why is she having a panic attack in the shower?”

***

Everything was too similar, but at the same time everything was too different. The bathroom here had the same layout as her bathroom at home, but the colors were wrong; some ghastly shade of pink covered these walls, the trim was an off white. The walk in shower didn’t have the bench that Tony installed when she’d broken her leg, which was okay because it made it a lot easier for her to curl up naked in the corner while her entire body shook aa the water poured down on her. There was a good two or three minutes of her repeating “I’m okay” over and over, despite the fact it was obvious she wasn’t okay. Tony, her Tony, was probably freaking out, poor Stephen would be getting a wakeup call.

She stopped trying to convince herself she was okay long enough to wonder if there was a Stephen Strange in this universe, and if he could fix this. It seemed very Deus ex Machina, so that was probably not going to work as well as she hoped. Still, it was enough to get her on her feet and finish her shower. Her Tony would look for her. He would have everyone looking for her. She just needed to keep it together until he got her home.

“Miss Stark?” JARVIS asked, his voice barely louder than the shower.

“Hello JARVIS,” she replied as she lathered up her hair. “How did Mr. Stark take the news of my presence?”

“As well as you might expect, Miss.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. It was relaxing, somehow. “Some clothes have been placed on the bed for you when you are ready for them.”

“Thank you, JARVIS. Am I to report anywhere once I’m dressed?”

“I believe Mr. Stark is going to send someone up to talk to you. He seemed distressed when I mentioned you might be having a panic attack in the shower.” She sighed as she stepped out of the shower, grabbing a couple of nearby towels, wrapping her long dark hair up in one and the rest of her in the other.

“Thanks for warning him… I’ve been told I’m not easy to handle coming down.”

“You have these often?”

“PTSD.” JARVIS didn’t seem to have a reply for that. Most people didn’t, so that was alright by Anita. She wrapped herself in her towels before going out into the bedroom and grabbing the clothes left for her, shutting herself in the bathroom again before getting dressed. The fit was remarkable, leaving her to assume that Jarvis had taken scans of her to make sure everything was comfortable. She wondered if his name came from the same place as her Tony’s JARVIS, or if it was just some acronym this Tony came up with.

“Miss Stark, I’ve been asked to see if you’re up to visitors,” JARVIS said cautiously.

“JARVIS, be straight with me: is someone going to taser me if I let them into this room?”

“Agent Coulson is outside the door and he does appear to have his taser…”

“He has my permission to fuck off, and you can quote me directly.” She could feel the panic rising in her again; nothing about this place seemed safe, especially if they were sending Coulson of all people to talk with her. She had no problem with her Coulson; she would never tell anyone, but if he ever tased her Tony, she would most likely agree that he deserved it. Her Tony liked to push buttons, he’s been pushing hers for a good twenty five years. Coulson was not to be messed with, regardless of what universe he was from. The Avengers were damage control; Coulson was threat neutralization.

Oh, her heart is racing now, that’s fun. JARVIS is going to report that to Coulson and whoever else might be on the other side of the door. She locked the door before getting in the shower, if they don’t have a key, then that door is coming down…

“Miss Stark,” JARVIS said with a forced calm she’d never heard from an AI. “You are dangerously close to backing yourself out onto the balcony. If you would be so kind as to have a seat, I will request someone else come speak with you.” She’s about to look over her shoulder when she feels a door handle against her back. If this balcony was anything like her own, it was a good twenty story drop beyond the railing.

The drop didn’t sound so bad right now, and she hated herself for thinking that.

“Thank you JARVIS,” she replied softly, taking a seat on an oversized armchair, making herself as small as possible. “I’ll sit here.”

“Do you require anything else, Miss?” She shakes her head.

“Nothing you can give me, JARVIS… thank you anyway.”

“What do you require, Miss?” She sighs sadly, shaking her head.

“My brother.”

[catsundercherryblossoms]

|Ch. 3 PART 1: Kidnapped| Her Forgotten Past //AOT fanfic//

~A/N~ The sass in this omggg. Btw... YES, this is a slow burn ship. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride 👀🌹

The desert around us was harsh and unforgiving. My mouth felt like sandpaper, but I already had a turn with the water canteen, and I didn't want to be that one annoying and needy person, so asking for more was out of the question.

Brief explanation as to why we were in a desert traveling with horses: Instructor Shadis rounded us up this morning and told us we were doing a special kind of training today. He split all the cadets into two groups, and gave each group horses and a map. We were to make a trip to a specific destination, meet up there, trade information about the trip, and then split again and return back to the training camp. Simple, right?

Thats what I thought too. But the second I was placed into my group I knew this would be a pain in the ass. Here's who was in my group: Armin Arlert, Marco Bodt, Mina Carolina, Sasha Braus, Connie Springer, Krista Lenz, and the ever so classy Eren Jaeger and Jean Kirschtein.

Those last two started bickering the moment we left.

"So we're not allowed to rush?" Marco asked. Sweat beads rolled down his forehead.

Armin shook his head, looking at his pad and pencil to write down our progress. He was given the role of record-keeper. He basically had to give a non-biased and honest record of our struggles and advantages during this training. Him and I stuck together at the front of the group with our horses. I was given the role of leader, which was in truth my worst nightmare. I'm better at taking care of myself. That's the way it's always been. I don't want people to expect stuff from me, and I certainly didn't want to be held responsible if something goes wrong. Besides... the last thing I wanted to do was babysit Jean and Eren.

"We'd be stupid if we did rush." Jean said with a yawn. He obviously didn't plan on taking this training seriously. "We can take our time."

Here we go, I thought.

"You don't know your lower limit." Eren said and scoffed. "If you're taking it slow, then I'm going ahead." He tapped his horse's side and trotted faster.

"But the formation of the group..." Marco tried to argue. He looked at Jean as if to say 'Do something!'.

Jean clicked his tongue. "Like I care! Extra effort here won't get me into the Military Police."

I sighed. 30 more kilometers to go... I wasn't sure if I could take any more of this.

Tap, tap, tap! The horses' hooves wasn't the only noise in the area. We all looked to our right, and saw a fairly large lizard amongst some rocks. It appeared to be following us.

"Looks like that lizard's joining us on the same path." Jean said.

"They're pretty rare." Marco commented.

"They're delicious, you know!"

We all looked at Sasha quizzically. The girl seemed to know exactly what she said, though. "They are!" She said, positive. "My family and I used to eat them. They taste like chicken!"

"What haven't you eaten..." I muttered. Armin heard and he suppressed a laugh.

"You can cook?" Jean asked Sasha.

"Of course. Piece of cake!" She said.

"Alright, then!"

Next thing I know, Jean raced past me on his horse, galloping towards the lizard.

"Oi!" I yelled. "You're breaking the formation, Kirschtein!"

He looked back over his shoulder. "If hunting for food is part of this training, then what's better than getting that lizard?"

This was precisely what we didn't need. Distractions. What's worse is Eren went after him, making the situation even more burdening. Now I had two idiots chasing a stray animal.

"Damn it, Jaeger!" I said and pulled the reigns on my horse, going after them. What did I do to deserve this? If only I could've been placed in Annie's group...

Jean drew out his ODM blades once the lizard was within reach. He smiled hungrily and brought his blade down, but only to produce a sharp clink sound. It had come in contact with Eren's blade instead. The lizard scuttled away, probably grateful that it had been protected.

An argument formed between the two. I dismounted my horse and marched up to them, hands on my hips.

"This isn't a game!" Eren told him.

"We don't even have an Instructor!" Jean said. "This so-called training isn't getting us anywhere!"

"Drop it! You're acting like brats." I said angrily.

"Look who's talking..." Eren mumbled under his breath, not making eye contact, but I still heard him clearly.

I folded my arms. "You wanna say that louder, Jaeger?"

Tensions were riding high. Marco also dismounted his horse, walking up to us. "Guys, we need to stop! If we continue this it'll have to be recorded. Don't write anything yet, Armin!" He said.

The pencil trembled in Armin's hand. He looked torn between his duty and his friend's wishes.

"Write down 'Jean Kirschtein tries to get food during the training, but gets interrupted by Eren Jaeger.' " Jean told him.

Eren gritted his teeth. "You bastard."

"Don't talk to him like that." I said.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so. Now shut up."

"Make me."

"ITS DELICIOUS!"

We all jumped. With incredulous faces we turned to look at none other than Sasha. Her mind was obviously somewhere else, still fantasizing about the lizard who was probably long gone by now.

I stand by my case... this girl definitely needs help.

Eren's eyes landed on me again. "Listen, I don't know what you have against me. Is it because you're friends with horseface, here?" He gestured to Jean.

Jean turned livid. "What did you say?"

"Of course not! I have a mind of my own. You clearly have something against me. Drop the macho act for once. Or are you still butthurt that I beat you in hand-to-hand combat?" I shot back.

Eren seemed to recall the event, and his cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. He was at a loss for words. The others stared at us in disbelief, a few of them snickering.

"Eren, is that true?" Connie asked.

"Wow." Jean said, evidently trying to contain his laughter.

"And why are you guys so surprised?" I snapped, and seeing the look on my face, the teasing ceased immediately. It was replaced by an awkward silence. I sighed deeply, feeling a migraine coming on. I looked to the sky and checked the position of the sun. Afternoon. We were wasting time.

"From now on, you guys listen to me. Got it? No chasing after lizards, no sidetracking— nothing. Is that understood?" I said strictly.

They all nodded, Eren a little reluctantly.

"Let's get moving."

* * *

Five hours later we were all huddled around a fire, our sleeping bags stretched out on the ground and our horses tied to nearby trees, helping themselves to some wild grass while we helped ourselves to canned rations. The overall mood was dull and humdrum. My eyes blinked slowly as I sat on a log, blanket thrown lazily over me, chin supported on my hand, watching the dancing flames.

"So this is what squad rations taste like..." Jean droned, picking at his canned food with distaste.

Sasha sighed. "It would've been better if we caught that lizard."

"Enough." He said immediately. "I've heard enough about lizards."

Just as I'd expected, Eren spoke up. "Weren't you hunting one just now?"

I rolled my eyes. One of these days, I'm sure, I'm going to roll my eyes so hard that I'll go permanently blind. And who will I blame? These two idiots.

Jean tossed away his half-eaten stale bread, a sign that he was officially fed up. Mentally. Not physically, which was another contributor to his bad attitude. Everyone shared exhausted looks, knowing what would come next. "Well, we are supposed to hunt titans." He said.

"And what do you mean by that?" Eren shot back. They both stood up and glared at each other. "Why did you even join the Training Corps?!"

"To live something better than a humble life, at least!"

The brunet's lips curled into a sneer. "Some things can be tolerated, others can't!"

I ran a hand through my hair, wondering how the other group was getting along, and if they had encountered any problems. I saw Armin grab his pencil and pad worriedly as the argument continued, but I made no effort to stop him. Marco did.

"Oh, come on, Armin. It's just a chat during mealtime!" The freckled boy tried to persuade him.

As if that was going to convince anyone. It only got worse.

"You think that when a real Titan shows up the results of training will pay off?" Jean scoffed. "Good luck to—"

Eren lunged at him, fisting his collar. "That's enough from you!"

They ensued a brawl, shoving and aiming for punches.

"Stop it!" Krista cried out.

"H-how about we actually hunt lizards instead?" Sasha suggested nervously. "You'll feel better after that!"

Are you kidding me? Enough. I grabbed a signal flare from my belt and didn't hesitate, aiming and shooting straight at Jean and Eren. The popping sound made them jump apart just in time to avoid the green jet of smoke. It zoomed between them and past the trees, deep into the forest. There it goes..., I thought, wasted. But wasted well.

Everyone turned to look at me, startled. I stood up and ripped the blanket off me indignantly, throwing it to the ground. I saw Eren gulp as I approached him and Jean, pointing at them with the now empty flare canister. "That's it. Im done with you two and your never-ending fights." I said angrily, "Look at yourselves! You should be ashamed. Everyone else is doing a great job at participating in this training. Everyone. Even Sasha!"

"Hey!" Sasha said, pouting.

Admittedly, I didn't really think that last part through. "Sorry," I told her, and returned to scolding Jean and Eren. "But seriously.... You two are bringing us down. I'd grade everyone else an A and you guys would be the only ones with a fucking F. Especially you, Jaeger." I looked at the tan, teal-eyed boy. "You're constantly criticizing Jean for not contributing fairly to the group and yet you make things worse by starting petty fights! The damn titans are outside the wall, not here! So why fight your comrade?"

By the time I was done there was only a shred of pride left in his expression. He was no longer vexed. In fact, by the way he looked down at his feet, I'd say he was realizing the truth in my words.

"Heh." Jean folded his arms.

"And don't get me started on you," I slapped his shoulder. He yelped. "You're no better than him! So stop acting all high and mighty. We all want comfort and idleness, Jean. Hell, I want to get into the Military Police too. But I'll let you know," I jabbed at his chest. "They don't accept slackers."

Silence. The others shared looks of second-hand embarrassment.

"I need a break." I said and spun on my heel, walking off and away from our camp setup, leaving them behind.

I didn't know how long it had been since I left them. At first I only meant it to last a couple minutes, but sitting now besides my horse, a stunning caramel and white-spotted colt, I figured they were all probably asleep. The moon provided soft, gentle and soothing rays of light amidst the enshrouding darkness of the forest. It was quiet here. Quieter than it could ever be in our group. Maybe I could just stay here, sleep, and return to them in the morning. Maybe I'll apologize to Jean and Eren for losing my temper. Maybe.

I stroked my horse's well-groomed coat, resting my head against his muzzle, listening to his peaceful, rumbling breathing. Perfection. My mind and body relaxed and I felt myself drift into sleep. Listless... unbothered...

Unguarded.

Then my horse started to act up. The creature's breathing became rough and alert, nostrils flaring. It was when he started jerking his head that I finally woke up, bleary eyed and confused. "Whoa boy," I hushed, trying to calm him down. "What is it?"

A twig snapped. I sensed a presence behind me and my blood ran cold. The second I turned around a large rifle bashed the side of my head mercilessly. The last thing I remembered was wincing and touching the injured spot, bringing my hand down to see red on my fingers, and losing consciousness.

End of Chapter 3 PART 1

[classicdaisycalico]

12 Sonamy!

protective sentence starters

First of all, I’m SO SO SORRY that I never got around to answering this sooner! Somehow I can’t search through my own tags anymore through the search bar so it’s been really hard finding the original post containing the prompts in the first place. But I haven’t forgotten your prompts! I promise! Anyway, here’s one of the first ones you requested!

(Also I’m just gonna put this under a “Read More”, btw)

“You’ll back off if you know what’s good for you.”

It was hard to think of a characteristic of Dr. Eggman that was actually somewhat positive, but persistence was often the first thing that came to Sonic’s mind. The same could be said for Amy, in some ways, as well, though at least her persistence didn’t bother the hedgehog anywhere near as much. This didn’t mean, however, that there weren’t times that he found it annoying, especially if he had to deal with them at the same time.

Such was the case today, as he was busy fighting off yet another swarm of motobugs and crabmeats that were currently attacking Green Hill. Eggman’s latest world domination plot may have faltered at the hands of the Resistance previously, but that didn’t mean his motives were completely crushed underfoot.

Seriously, when is Baldy McNosehair just gonna give this up already? he thought to himself as he sped through another hunk of scrap metal. How has he NOT gotten tired of going through the motions over and over again?!

“Sonic!”

It was Tails. Somehow he had caught up to him after getting overwhelmed with a previous wave of robots, but judging by the giant battered wrench he was holding in one hand, he seemed to look okay, save for a few bruises here and there. Sonic also noticed the Miles Electric in the other hand, still intact. “Got any more intel on this yawn-fest, buddy?”

“It looks like you’ve pushed through the last wave of robots, but there’s something on my radar up ahead. It’s readings look familiar, some other things constant, others not so much…keep on the look-out for anything unusual.”

“I’m on it!”

A roundhouse kick here, a boost there, and a hop, skip, and several homing attacks later, they found himself face-to-face with…

“The Death Egg Robot?” Sonic skidded to a stop in his tracks, Tails following suit. “I thought that hunk of junk was down for the count, last time I checked…”

“That’s where you’re wrong, you annoying blue pincushion,” Eggman’s voice boomed from his Eggmobile. “I was able to rework the outer shell into a battle mech that could function on its own.”

“How is that possible?!” Tails asked incredulously. “The outer shell was constructed specifically to keep the Phantom Ruby’s power in check. When the robot physically holding the Ruby ejected itself, the shell should have been rendered completely useless!”

“That’s only what I wanted you to think, fox boy,” Eggman sneered. “You should know by now that I never construct any of my plans with just one backup in mind. OHOHOHOHOHOHO–”

“Can it, Eggface,” Sonic retorted. “Knowing you, any and all of your half-baked ideas wouldn’t last you half an hour no matter how much work you put into them!”

“Oh, you naive little rodent, you,” Eggman bit back. “I can assure you this one won’t be as easy to push through. You see, I rewired the shell so it would run on a different energy supply.”

As if on cue, the core of the shell began to glow, pulsing almost like a beating heart. Unlike the first encounter, however, the “heart” did not glow red like the Phantom Ruby, but green…then blue…then silver…then gold…then red…then purple…then cyan…

Tails’ eyes widened in horror as he finally put two and two together. “…no…”

The mad doctor laughed again. “Oh, yes…while you were busy destroying the Phantom Ruby, I was on the hunt for something far more powerful. So naturally, the Chaos Emeralds were a fitting substitute…all seven of them.”

Sonic shook his head in disbelief as he watched the scene play out before his eyes. “I can’t believe how hard we’ve been duped…the entire Resistance just…completely forgot about the Chaos Emeralds…”

“It was a little difficult to get my hands on the last one, but no matter,” Eggman mused. “At least she’ll be here to catch a glimpse of both of you falling victim to your doom! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”

Tails raised an eyebrow in confusion “…she?”

“Oh, yes,” Eggman said as he yanked up a bright pink hedgehog by the collar of her red dress. “SHE.”

Sonic’s eyes instantly widened as he realized who it was Eggman was holding hostage. “Amy?!”

The pink hedgehog’s ears perked up as she heard her blue hero’s voice for the first time in days. Just as she was about to shout his name at the top of her lungs, Eggman shoved a hand in her mouth, muffling her scream.

“This little nuisance has been a thorn in my side for the past few days.” Seeing the scowl on Sonic’s face grow, he added, “Perhaps when you’re done for, I’ll finish off your pretty little girlfriend, as well.”

“Finish me? You?” Sonic’s eyes narrowed as he readied a battle stance. “We’ll see about that.” With that, he sprinted in Eggman’s direction as the the Death Egg shell readied its laser cannons and machine guns.

“Sonic!” Tails exclaimed as the weapons opened fire. “Watch out!”

The fleet-footed hedgehog knew exactly how this machine worked like the back of his hand. Effortlessly, he dodged lasers and evaded bullets left and right until he found the core, the shell’s only weak spot, fall into his line of sight.

Now I’ve just gotta ram into that thing a few times and make that thing cough up those Chaos Emeralds, he thought to himself. Here goes nothing!

One.

He felt the shell push back on contact. So far, so good.

Two.

He reached farther, pushing harder. Once again, the shell skidded backward, further back this time.

Three.

As he rammed into the core, the Chaos Emeralds released a shockwave, stunning Sonic and warping him back to Tail, his quills in disarray from the electricity emitted by the gems in the shell’s core. “I can’t stop it fast enough,” he groaned.

“Did you try taking out all the guns?” Tails inquired. “Maybe the Chaos Emeralds took some time to charge up before you damaged the shell enough, so maybe if you don’t get sidetracked by enemy fire, you’ll get to the core faster and deal more damage!”

“Great idea!” He was on his feet again in no time. “Thanks, buddy! And while you’re here, try to get Amy out of that Eggmobile! I’ll take out whatever’s trying to lock on you!”

Tails gave his best friend a thumbs-up as he took flight, beelining straight for the Eggmobile with his big wrench in tow. After narrowly escaping various lasers and deflecting numerous showers of bullets, he was able to sneak up on Eggman from behind. While the doctor wasn’t looking, Tails pointed his wrench at his head. “Where’s Amy?” he asked, trying not to shake in his little shoes.

Underneath his glasses, Eggman’s eyes widened. In the excitement of finally taking down Sonic in his new weapon, he had completely forgotten to keep track of the other annoying rodent in his possession! He slowly turned to his right. No sign of bright pink anywhere. He snapped his head to the left. Still no Amy to be seen. Come to think of it, she hadn’t made so much as a peep in a while…

“The little brat must have left when I wasn’t looking!” He slammed his fist against the dashboard of the Eggmobile. “Blasted hedgehogs. ALL OF THEM!”

In the meantime, Sonic was slashing through every weapon in sight, and was just about to tear through the last laser cannon when he saw the Chaos Emeralds about to form another shockwave. Right as it was about to release, however, there was a huge explosion from within the core, and the shockwave fizzled out. Within less than a second, he sprinted over to investigate. By the time he reached the core, he noticed that the glow of the Chaos Emeralds was absent. In fact…

“The Chaos Emeralds…they’re gone? Where did they go?”

Sonic looked closer at the core. It was completely destroyed, so clearly something must have gotten inside and damaged it enough so the Emeralds could be freed. He looked at the damage around where the core was housed. Were those…hammer marks?

“SONIC! LOOK OUT!”

He whipped his head around to find who screamed his name, but right as he saw who it was, the laser had already found its target. It stunned him, and pain shot throughout his shoulder and into the rest of his body. With no sense of coordination at this point, he toppled out of the core and back onto the ground. Although his vision was blurry at this point, he could make out the faint image of a pink hedgehog surrounded by seven other glowing hues.

“Amy…” he murmured as he fell. “What are you doing…”

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Eggman cackled. “At last, Sonic the Hedgehog is finally out of commission! Now, with the power of the Chaos Emeralds, I can restart my efforts to bring the world under my control ONCE AND FOR ALL!”

“OH, REALLY?!”

Sonic’s vision was starting to clear, and he was just about to get back on his feet, when pain starting shooting through his body again. All he could do was lift his head up. What greeted him was none other than Amy Rose standing in front of him, with all of the Chaos Emeralds surrounding her. “Leave him alone, you jerk,” she hollered.

“And what should I do about it, little girl?” Eggman taunted.

“You’d back off if you know what’s good for you!” Amy shouted.

Sonic was able to push himself up off the ground slightly. Amy looked really angry. The Chaos Emeralds were revolving around Amy at an even faster pace now. Suddenly, in a fantastic flash of light, Amy was floating gently in the air, her quills glowing a radiant gold, her red eyes flashing.

The blue hedgehog on the ground gaped. She…she can use the Chaos Emeralds? She has a super form?!

She flew off, zooming towards Eggman, with her giant, walloping hammer in hand, and with one fell swoop, she swung at the Eggmobile, denting it severely as the head made contact. Instantly, the Eggmobile flew into the sky at an alarming speed.

And she didn’t stop there. Right as Sonic finally got back on his feet, she sped past him, readying her hammer to strike the Death Egg Shell, knocking him back to the ground.

Her hammer struck the core with a force so hard, it exploded, taking the rest of the shell down with it. Eventually, it toppled onto itself, clouds of dust emerging with every hunk of scrap metal that hit the dirt.

Sonic was back on his feet again when the smoke cleared. What he saw in front of him was Amy, smiling sweetly at him, as if nothing at all happened. He felt himself reaching out to her, almost reflexively, in an almost protective instinct, even though the roles were so obviously reversed. “Amy…”

His hand was shaking like the rest of his body. She took it in her own and walked closer to him, letting her own free hand rest on his bruised shoulder. Her hand was so warm, so gentle…under the soft little brushes of her fingers, Sonic could feel the pain melt away almost instantly, but he was still as weary as could be. Knowing Amy would want him to rest, he collapsed into her, letting her carry him as she flew back into the air to greet Tails. “Let’s go home”, she said.

And she flew away toward Green Hill, Tails following suit.

[lunamanar]

Hey, Luna, are you still doing the ask thing? If so, I was wondering if you had any headcanons regarding the Leonhart and Heartilly extended families? As in, do Squall, Linoa or Ellone have other still living relatives? People always talk about the parental issues in this game, but the rest of their families possibly being around never gets brought up.

I’m always “doing the ask thing,” haha~ 

(pardon me I’m gonna ramble real quick and then I’ll answer your actual questions)

I actually used to do this quite a lot before I got a new job and had to move my entire family of three people and eight(8, VIII) cats 500 miles northbound. Which was…incredibly stressful, and I just had no energy or brainspace left at the end of each day to communicate much, if at all, with large groups of people. So this stuff was right out. It pretty much tore me away from tumblr for a year and a half. I’ve been really bummed about that and kept trying to “get back into it,” but my several meager attempts at jumping back in got sidetracked by life responsibilities, and especially with tumblr’s new restrictions on external links not being searchable, the whole trawling for art thing I used to do just isn’t as feasible at this point in time because I have to edit each post very carefully so it will still show up in a search. That’s time-consuming. Maybe when I go back to 3rd shift in December (I hope) I’ll be able to art-hunt “full time,” again, but I just have a limited space in which to do that, now. 

However, I can still do asks! And I really enjoy them, they’re fun and engaging and, hell I admit, I like it when people want to hear my opinion on things. But I was having a hard time, uh…asking for asks, haha. It felt too much like I was begging for attention. But then stuff happened and I had the worst pain spike I’ve had all year, and I kinda just broke down and said I needed a distraction. My chronic pain issues can be absolutely debilitating, and can lay me flat in bed for days (I had to take two days off work last week). But if I can manage to engross myself in something creative, it’s like a shot of cortisone. I think I get something of a rush, an adrenaline/endorphin kick out of it, and it does a lot to mitigate whatever the hell it is that causes my problem. I mean, that’s probably true of a lot of illnesses; you get attention and positive feedback and your brain rewards you with pleasant chemicals. But whatever, it worked and now I feel like I’m getting back in the game. I just have to keep the momentum up, now. 

*cough* Ahem. So you asked me a thing. I will answer. 

I do have headcanons about Squall’s extended family, specifically. I’ve not built out Rinoa’s yet…partially because it just never really comes up in the stories I’ve either plotted out or written. So I can’t answer that part of it–yet–but I can talk about Squall’s. 

Working backwards: starting with Laguna’s side, Laguna is the oldest of two siblings, and not one, but both of them are kinda “black sheep” in the family. Partially it was their upbringing; Their mother, Elga Loire, was overworked and underappreciated, often working two jobs to keep food on the table (which she did very well). She didn’t have a lot of time to spend with her kids because of this, and the main reason for it was that their dad, Sevren Jr., was…kind of a loser? I mean, no, that’s not a good word, but a lot of people would call him that. He was an inventor. And always, always on the verge of the one that would make it big, this time. Automated chocobo saddles, “sliding” shoes to make walking more efficient, paramagic-powered chairs….yyyeah. You get why they were broke all the time. Sevren often traveled to demonstrate his newest creations, so he was absent a lot of the time, too. But when he came back, he would always bring the boys–Laguna and River (you must see where I’m going with this double-entendre)–some new toy or strange item from whatever country or town he’d visited. 

This was fascinating to Laguna, in particular. Even as a kid, he dreamed of traveling the world. When he got older, joining the army seemed like the fastest way to do that, soooo….he roped his two best friends into joining with him. Heh. 

Now, River…wasn’t into that stuff so much. He thought it was silly. He preferred to help Elga when she was at home, and even when she wasn’t, he ended up doing a lot of the house chores while his older brother went out and nearly died repeatedly trying to do dumb things. River was ‘fine’ just keeping to himself, reading and listening to music when he could get the radio to pick something up. As he grew up, he became a bit of a…punk? Like, he would be listening to Bad Religion in 1992. On the other hand, maybe Dream Theater when he was feeling happy. I imagine him looking a lot like Leon in KH2, but with hazel eyes (Sevren’s were brown) and no Griever all over his clothes. He cut his own hair so it always looked a bit jagged and unkempt, and he left it semi-long. Just generally prescient. He became pretty resentful of authority because he saw how it treated his mother and conspired to keep them all poor, and him too, when he got old enough to get a job (Laguna never had one until the army). It made him all the more determined to help his mother (and father, to an extent) weather the storm until the tides changed. 

But then…well. They changed. But not for the better. Their dad died, and very suddenly, of an embolism. And, bitter as she was about having to support the family nearly single-handedly, Elga Loire loved Sevren quite a bit, and fell into some pretty deep broken heart syndrome. Inconsolable, she lost both her jobs. Laguna had already traipsed off to the army with his friends, and wouldn’t be aware of any of this for several weeks. River was left to care for their mother alone, and although they owned their small home, she had to sell it just to make ends meet. She moved in with a friend, and River…well, she sent him to the army, too. She insisted, thinking it was the best way to get both her sons out of this mess. Laguna already seemed to be doing well. 

River did not do so well. He survived boot camp, but deserted his first year in service. 

Laguna never heard from him, after that…and their mother passed away not too long afterward. 

So…that’s Laguna’s end of it. As far as anyone knows, River is still out there. But Laguna hasn’t seen him in nearly 30 years. So, Squall has a missing uncle out there, somewhere, maybe. 

Raine’s side…haha, geez, I might need to make a chart. In some ways, Raine is easier because she has no siblings and doesn’t know who her dad is. But I’ve traced her lineage back a bit further, and it gets…weird, in places. I might not be able to describe all of it, here. 

Raine’s mother’s name is Gale. Gale is still alive, and Squall does meet her, once. It’s a solemn, one-time meeting, more an acknowledgement than a reunion. But it’s good. Gale is very practical. She never married, and never told Raine’s father she was pregnant (she didn’t like him for a permanent fixture). She was also a businesswoman. She owned and ran a hotel in middletown Dollet for many years. That’s where Raine got a lot of her experience before setting out on her own. Gale has sandy brown hair that she keeps short, and looks a bit like a taller Ellone in business casual, haha. But, but–those blue eyes. She has those. Her relation to Squall is evident. 

It’s important to remember that although I enjoy both “he named himself” and “it’s Raine’s maiden name” theories, I’m pretty firmly in the camp of Raine’s last name being Leonhart. The story of Gale’s mother, Shiara (this is Arashi [storm] with the syllables reversed), depends on it, because she is the originator. I can’t detail the entire thing here–just too long–but the brief synopsis is that Shiara was a sorceress, in a time when sorceresses (”witches”) and “resistance” groups hell-bent on killing them all were in a state of cold war with one another. When Shiara became a sorceress, she panicked and ran away. She ended up being captured by one of these resistance factions, and had what I can only call a very complicated relationship with the faction’s leader, Dericho (this is the river Jericho with the first letter changed, making it phonetically very similar to Derecho, which is yet another type of storm). 

Dericho’s faction was called, yes, the Pride, and they operated under a familiar leonine emblem. Of all his ancestors, Squall probably most closely resembles Dericho facially. Dericho is slightly shorter, his hair is a bit darker, and his eyes are a bit more on the grey side, but his posture, the way he carries himself, his facial expressions, his voice, even the sweep of his hair and the length he tends to keep it are all very familiar. A lot of those qualities were apparently recessive and just skipped a couple generations before thy found a match and popped up again. 

How Shiara came to have Gale is a story I’d personally rather tell in prose, but I will say that it was Dericho who essentially named her, telling her in all his years of vetting people who want to be worthy of being called a Lion, Shiara was the only person he’d met with the heart of one. She carried that with her the rest of her life.

She is not, sadly, alive, having died at a ripe old age (and not terribly, since she was prepared with a willing successor nearby). She never actually told Gale about her powers, and to the very last, Gale never knew. The touch of sorcery ended there, seemingly. Dericho is also gone. 

But I’m not done yet. One more generation, and this time, Hyne’s power is quite evident. Dericho’s mother, Hanwei, was a sorceress, his father was her knight, and they were quite open about it, feeling safe with it in their particular neck of the woods. Dericho was very familiar with the touch of his mother’s magic–she used it with him the way any mother would use a gentle hand, soothing scraped knees, gently grabbing his arm to pull him out of trouble–from fifteen feet away. His father, Mael[strom], was quite happy in his service to his wife and sorceress, and both Dericho’s parents loved him very much. When they embraced him, he could feel their connections tangling around him, and it was a very comfortable, safe way to be a child. 

Of course, we can’t have that, can we?

When Dericho was about 5 or 6, they had been attending a fair that ran late into the night. Dericho started to nod off, so they went home early. It was a short distance, so they decided to walk instead of paying to ride a carriage to their home. Unfortunately, as you can probably guess, they were ambushed, by a particularly nasty faction called the Ridgebacks. Upon discovering Hanwei was a sorceress…well, let’s say the result was not pretty. At all. Dericho watched both his parents die, and his mother in particular, because she had no nearby successor. He was then “adopted” by the very faction who murdered his parents before his eyes. 

Without going into specifics, they took this traumatized child, a blank slate, and turned him into one of them. But…not quite. By 17, Dericho didn’t know any other way of existing than as part of the factions, anymore, but he knew he still hated the Ridgebacks for what they had done. He murdered his “mentor” of a dozen or so years, killed several people, and took several more boys near his age on his way out of that particular clan. He started his own faction, with his own rules, and one was a “special” way of dispatching witches without having to burn them to dust. The Pride made their name on this and other standards which set their bar just a tad higher. They’d been in operation for almost ten years when Shiara showed up. 

Then, as I said, things got complicated. 

I should also note that Shiara and Dericho both lived in Centra. It was not long after Shiara flew free that the fateful Lunar Cry occurred, which deposited the Crystal Pillar and destroyed a third of the continent. Shiara barely escaped that disaster with her life…and her newborn daughter. 

So….yeah, I think that’s about it, for now. If I ever get to working out my Rinoa’s tree, maybe I’ll put that up here as well, but for now, Squall’s all I’ve got, and his is hell in a handbasket. 

I hope you enjoyed it, though!

[thoughtsofasouthpaw]

The Squirrel

I watched a squirrel for close to an hour the other night.

Of course, I should have been intensely studying for the math test that night, but this squirrel, it was more than a squirrel. It was...well, it's hard to completely explain in a short number of words.

I'll start from the beginning--

I was sitting at a table on the college campus, math book and notebook cracked open in front of me. Review mode was engaged--let's put it that way; and as far as studying for math goes, I thought I was doing pretty well.

Now, to step away from the math--we already know I'm terrible at the concept--I want to introduce all of you to the man of the hour: the squirrel that hopped down from a tree to the right of me.

It's not as if this was a mutant squirrel; no, it was your average, everyday, acorn-loving creature, nothing much to it. I could tell it had come out to scavenge when I first saw it--why, you ask? it was hunting beneath the various tables for scraps of wasted food.

The squirrel got lucky a few times, found two French fries, and, I think, a potato chip.

I wasn't too interested in what it was eating, though.

Sidetrack a moment from the squirrel.

Picture: a set piece on which all these types of people are walking and acting out their lives, their personalities, within the restricted boundaries of whatever influence the public opinion has over our confidence.

One girl, two tables away from me, was chatting on a phone while studying for, possibly, the same math test. Truth be told, I didn't check out that specific detail.

Another guy showed up during the middle of the squirrel's charade--and take note, this guy is important in this story, 'kay?--chomping down on a pink coated chocolate candy and pacing the ground before a bundle of spiring trees.

Dozens more people passed and went, walked and skated, talked and reflected. Classes were let out, and those students came through this set piece, only to go onto another one within an instant.

Why are they crucial? Why did I observe them so keenly?

Not a single one of these people acknowledged the squirrel's existence.

The squirrel here is crawling over and under the intricacies of these tables, grabbing at crumbs; and, to them, it's a ghost. The French fries disappeared, sure, but to where they went, no one would be the wiser.

I had my eyes fixed on the squirrel, and with each group that entered the set piece, I watched to see if any would take note of it. Surprisingly, as I said, it was as if the whole scene was happening underground, no lights, no sense of what or why was going on in the surroundings.

I had to laugh; of course, who wouldn't in a situation like that.

Every time I kept thinking someone would point out the squirrel and admire its cuteness, my intuition was proven wrong. Sometimes it is--that I don't deny; it's pointless to assume I would have predicted any of the reactions.

Then I wondered...

Why was I so enamored with the squirrel in the first place?

The answer came to me when I saw the squirrel, fresh off its second fry, venture carefully towards the girl chatting on her phone. It would take a few bounds, stop, sniff the ground, and tread some more ground, its tail twitching with each movement.

It reached the girl...eventually--and what did the girl do but stare at it and stamp her feet.

The squirrel retreated, scared, unsure, wrecked in all of its emotional faculties. Had it been looking for food? A companion? Someone to give it a good petting? Dunno. All I know is that it ran from her.

At this point, we return to the guy eating his chocolate candy.

During the periods when I was unable to clearly observe the squirrel, my focus had been spent studying this dude. By all accounts, he looked simple enough, just enjoying his chocolate; he was the guy you'd pass on the street without a second thought--that is...until the group of girls walked by him.

A glance was all it took, and I recognized the panic in his eyes as they tracked the girls, this trio glued to their phones, disregarding the guy without a second thought.

He lowered the chocolate candy, moved to speak; although, by then, they were gone.

I winced.

The guy walked a few more minutes, lost to his thoughts--

During this painful moment, another class stormed down from the hill, jabbering, hopping on their skateboards and scooters; again, not one of them noticed the squirrel that, cowering beneath a table, dropped to its paws and hightailed it to the bundle of spiring trees near the recently heartbroken guy.

And guess what?

As the guy pondered and paced, he stopped a second, looked up; and he saw the squirrel, just stood there in an awe of sorts as the squirrel clamped itself to one of the trees and crawled up the trunk.

What else could I do than be mesmerized? Another of these bystanders had seen the invisible critter; now, it was as real as anything else in that small dining square.

Why do I tell you this story? Why do I waste your time with a little human observation?

To me, that most people did not see this squirrel says something about the state of humanity--of existing.

I forgot to mention earlier, but the whole time I was studying the squirrel, none of those people took a notice of me, either. Like the squirrel, I became a ghost for a short amount of time, free to wander, to act, to do, as I wished.

Maybe it's 'cause I was silent. Maybe it's 'cause I simply watched.

Maybe it's 'cause, for one reason or another, I just didn't blend.

I put faith in this assumption because of the one other person who saw the squirrel:

The guy who had recently been rejected by the trio of girls.

The both of us were not, by any stretch of the matter, different, per say; however, what if, since the majority of this small society had not stopped to acknowledge our being there, we were then able to acknowledge the presence of the squirrel?

Perhaps existing is more than simply being seen by others. Perhaps, as long as you yourself are confident in what you stand for, in what you think, or believe; then, perhaps,   existing is a matter of whether or not you want to stand tall, or sit complacently with the masses.

Perhaps, at this moment, there's a squirrel scampering at your feet for food, and you haven't yet noticed it.

Think daily,

A Southpaw